Hazelmead: Award-Winning, Affordable, and Fairly Priced
In May, our Hazelmead project in Bridport was recognised with three RIBA Regional Awards, including a Sustainability Award and Project Architect of the Year. Designed as a truly affordable cohousing community for local people, Hazelmead demonstrates that exceptional design, strong sustainability credentials, and affordability can go hand in hand.
The project was delivered for £2,714 per square metre (excluding the PV Microgrid and Batteries) – a remarkably efficient cost in comparison to the average of £4,393/m² across this year’s RIBA Southwest and Wessex award winners which featured a number of high end private homes. As featured in the June edition of the RIBA Journal, only 37 out of 115 national award-winning projects were willing to disclose their construction costs. This lack of transparency is deeply problematic – for clients, for designers, and for the public conversation around what good architecture actually costs!
At Barefoot Architects, we’ve always taken a different stance: we publish cost data for our projects. Why? Because clients – particularly those delivering social value, like community groups, councils, housing associations and ethical developers – need this information to make informed decisions. Sharing cost data helps prospective clients understand what’s possible, what value looks like, and how to prioritise design decisions.
Arial view of Hazelmead (credit to Rebecca Noakes)
Hazelmead was not cheap because it was compromised. It is a highly sustainable development with off-site timber frame construction (SIPS), MVHR, triple glazing, generous daylight, a car-free layout, and excellent biodiversity. It was affordable because of clear priorities, repetition, lean detailing, and collaborative working with an efficient contractor and a committed client group. The scheme was funded through a partnership between Bridport Cohousing and Homes England, and includes 50% social affordable rent and 50% shared ownership homes.
Crucially, the project doesn’t just meet environmental standards – it supports social sustainability too. All homes meet the AECB Carbon Lite Standard, and situated within a community layout that fosters connection, care, and long-term resilience. From a self-built and separately funded common house and shared laundry to community growing spaces for food security, Hazelmead represents the kind of everyday low-carbon living we need to normalise.
Hazelmead living (credit to Rebecca Noakes)
As a profession, we must move beyond the myth that good design has to cost more. Through the RIBA Awards, our industry has made excellent progress in promoting disclosure of operational energy use and embodied carbon – now we must do the same with construction costs. We believe transparency builds trust, raises ambition, and unlocks better projects. Hazelmead is proof that award-winning, net-zero architecture can also be affordable, replicable, and rooted in local need.
So let’s be bold. Let’s normalise sharing costs. Let’s make good design accessible to more people. And let’s stop hiding behind the excuse that high quality, low-carbon, community-led development is “too expensive.” Hazelmead shows that, done right, it’s anything but.
Hazelmead living (credit to Rebecca Noakes)